Red Bull Arena is far from being fertile ground for the Bleu-blanc-noir. Since 2012, the Impact, through 11 games, has earned two positive results in New Jersey: a draw in Concacaf Champions League, and a victory in MLS Cup playoffs. Other than that, there were a few encouraging performances, but ultimately no points were ever taken during the Impact’s short trips to Harrison.
However, the tendency could have been broken on Saturday afternoon. The Impact had a good first half, clashing with a Red Bulls side that started strongly, but who let Montreal’s starting 11 slowly gain control of the game’s tempo. Back from the locker rooms, it was a whole different ball game, and the Bleu-blanc-noir was not up to the task – suffering perhaps from the extremely hot Saturday afternoon in the New York area, and from Rod Fanni’s injury, which forced a defensive substitution at the 30-minute mark. Here are your advanced stats.
Evan Bush: 8 saves, 1 ‘keeper sweeping, 2 clearances, 17 successful passes, 57 touches.
Impact’s passing: 229 successful passes out of 353 attempted, 38 successful passes out of 79 attempted in the final third, none of the seven attempted crosses were on target, 43.4% possession.
Rudy Camacho: 1 shot, 28 successful passes, two of those in the final third, for a 73% success rate, 1 duel won, 5 interceptions, 6 recoveries, 53 touches.
Jeisson Vargas: 1 goal, 3 shots, 6 successful passes, one of those in the final third, for a 46% success rate, 2 duels won, 1 clearance, 3 recoveries, 14 touches.
